After 70: the one standing posture change that eases knee pain within days, according to physiotherapists

Thomas Wilkins • December 10, 2025 16:28

You notice it most at the sink. The plates don’t seem any heavier, but after a few minutes your knees start that familiar, nagging ache. You shift your weight from one leg to the other, lean on the worktop, tell yourself it’s “just age” and get on with it. Later, waiting in a queue or brushing your teeth, the same dull protest appears, as predictable as the kettle boiling.

Many people over 70 assume the only answers live in a pill box or an operating theatre. Yet again and again, physiotherapists watch something far simpler happening in their clinics: the way you stand is quietly loading your knees all day long. Change that, even slightly, and the pain often eases within days - not because your joints have magically rejuvenated, but because you’ve stopped asking them to carry a job that belongs higher up.

The standing habit that quietly punishes your knees

Most of us were never taught how to stand. We just… did it, then spent decades reinforcing whatever our body found easiest. For many older adults, that ends up looking like this: knees locked straight, pelvis pushed slightly forwards, chest leaning back, weight resting over the front of the knees and the balls of the feet.

It feels like “relaxing” because the muscles at the front of the thighs switch off and you hang on your ligaments instead. To your knees, though, it’s like leaving a heavy shopping bag on a narrow shelf all day. Nothing dramatic happens at first, but the strain is constant.

After 70, that habit bites harder. Muscle mass has often reduced, cartilage is thinner, and small imbalances add up more quickly. So that easy, familiar stance at the sink or hob quietly squeezes and twists the knee joint, minute after minute, until it starts talking back.

Physiotherapists see the pattern so often they can spot it in the waiting room. The good news is that the fix is not complicated, and it doesn’t require special shoes, braces or exercises you’ll forget to do. It’s one simple shift.

The one change: stand “on your hips”, not “on your knees”

The adjustment physios come back to is this: stop hanging your bodyweight off your knees, and move it back into your hips. They often call it a “hip‑loaded stance” or a “stacked posture”. The idea is simple: you gently unlock your knees and stack your body so your hips and bottom, not your knee joints, do most of the supporting.

Here’s what that looks like in plain language.

Stand with your feet under you, not somewhere behind you. Place them roughly hip‑width apart, toes facing forwards or just slightly turned out. You should feel balanced, not as if you’re leaning into your toes.
Soften, don’t lock, your knees. If you tend to stand bolt upright, imagine you are taking your knees from 100% straight to about 90–95%. It’s a tiny bend - no crouch, just enough that your kneecaps are no longer jammed backwards.
Shift your weight a whisper backwards. Without leaning from the waist, gently let your weight sink towards your heels and the middle of your feet, instead of the balls of your feet. If you momentarily feel like you might fall backwards, you’ve gone too far; ease it until you feel grounded.
Let your hips take over. Imagine you are zipping up a slightly tight pair of trousers. That tiny lift in your lower tummy and gentle squeeze in your bottom are your hip and core muscles waking up to support you, so your knees don’t have to.
Stack the rest of you on top. Let your chest float gently over your pelvis, shoulders soft, head stacked over your shoulders rather than poking forwards. If someone looked from the side, your ear, shoulder, hip, knee and ankle would sit roughly in a line.

To most people this feels odd for the first day or two, as if you’re “doing something” rather than just standing. Then something interesting happens: your knees feel less jammed, and standing starts to feel more like resting on strong posts (your hips) instead of delicate hinges.

Let’s be honest: no one stands like a ballet teacher all day. But adding this small correction in the moments you stand still - washing up, queuing, chatting in the hallway - can rapidly reduce the constant background pressure that keeps your knees irritated.

Feel the difference in under a minute

Try this simple experiment at your kitchen worktop or the bathroom sink.

Stand as you usually do. Don’t fix anything. Notice where your weight is. Are your knees locked? Are you leaning on your toes or gripping the floor with them?
Rate your knee comfort. On a scale from 0 to 10, where 0 is no awareness at all and 10 is “I need to sit down now”, how do your knees feel after 30 seconds?
Now switch to the hip‑loaded stance.
- Soften your knees.
- Let your weight drift slightly towards your heels and mid‑foot.
- Gently engage your bottom and lower tummy.
- Stack your chest over your pelvis.
Wait another 30–60 seconds. See whether the feeling in your knees changes. For many people, there’s a subtle but clear sense of pressure easing, as if someone has loosened a tight strap.

Physiotherapists often use this quick test in clinic. It’s not a miracle cure, and it won’t erase arthritis, but it shows how much of your knee discomfort can be shifted simply by redistributing work to muscles designed to carry it.

Where to use this posture change in everyday life

You don’t need a special exercise slot for this. The easiest way to make it stick is to attach it to things you already do.

At the sink – each time you wash dishes or rinse vegetables, treat it as “posture practice time”.
At the hob – when you’re stirring a pot, check: soft knees, weight to mid‑foot, hips engaged.
In queues – post office, chemist, café. Instead of leaning on one leg with the other stuck out, bring your feet under you and share the load.
When brushing your teeth – two minutes, twice a day, is ideal for reminding your body what “stacked” feels like.
On the phone – if you tend to pace and then stop, use each pause to re‑set your stance.

You’re not aiming for perfection. The goal is simply to spend less of the day hanging off the front of your knees and more of it resting on your hips and mid‑foot.

A quick checklist to keep by the kettle

Cue	What to do	Why it helps
Knees	Soften them slightly instead of locking	Reduces joint compression and ligament strain
Weight	Aim for heels + mid‑foot, not toes	Moves load away from the front of the knees
Hips & bottom	Gently “zip up” lower tummy and squeeze bottom	Lets strong hip muscles share the work

Why this small change can help within days

Your knees are sensitive to irritation over time. Standing with them locked and loaded forwards is like leaving a tap dripping on the same spot all day. The joint surfaces, already less cushioned with age, get very little chance to calm down.

When you shift to a hip‑loaded stance, three things happen:

The pressure across the front of the knee joint reduces.
The muscles around the hips and thighs begin to work again, which improves circulation and support.
Your balance subtly improves, because your bodyweight sits over your base of support instead of drifting in front of it.

Most people don’t notice this as a grand revelation. They notice it as “I stood to cook Sunday lunch and didn’t have to sit down halfway through,” or “The queue at the surgery felt less of a battle”. The change is modest but meaningful.

Soyons honnêtes : personne ne s’entraîne vraiment à tenir debout tous les jours. You won’t remember this posture every time you stand. But even if you catch yourself a handful of times, that’s several minutes - then hours - when your knees are no longer being pressed and twisted in the same way.

When to be cautious and ask for help

Not all knee pain is created equal. A better stance can ease strain, but it isn’t a substitute for medical advice when something more serious is going on.

Pay particular attention and speak to your GP or physiotherapist if:

Your knee is very swollen, hot or visibly red.
The joint locks, gives way, or you cannot straighten or bend it fully.
Pain comes on suddenly after a fall or twist.
Standing even for a minute in any posture is sharply painful.

In many cases of age‑related wear and tear, though, physiotherapists will still start by looking at how you stand and move. Medication, supports and exercises may all play a role, but your everyday posture is the background music your knees live with. Calming that music down makes everything else work better.

How to remember this without thinking about it

The main complaint people have is not that the stance is hard - it’s that they forget. A few tiny tricks can help:

Put a small sticker or dot on the corner of the bathroom mirror and kettle. Each time you see it, do a two‑second “knees soft, weight back, hips on” check.
Choose one daily task (for example, washing up after the evening meal) as your “posture practice” slot and treat it as non‑negotiable.
Tell a friend or partner what you’re trying. A simple “knees!” reminder from someone else can nudge you back into the new habit.

Over a few weeks, this stops feeling like a trick and starts feeling like the way your body prefers to stand. Your knees may never feel like they did at 30, but they do not have to shout at you every time you face the sink.

FAQ:

Will this help if I already have arthritis in my knees? It can. Changing how you load the joint often reduces irritation on already‑arthritic knees, which many people experience as less ache when standing. It won’t reverse arthritis, but it can make living with it more comfortable.

Doesn’t bending my knees more put extra strain on them? A slight softening actually reduces strain compared with locking them. You’re allowing muscles and hips to share the load, rather than jamming the joint into its end position.

How long before I notice a difference? Some people feel a change the same day; for others it takes a week or two of on‑and‑off practice. The key is to use the hip‑loaded stance during the situations that usually set your knees off, such as at the sink or in queues.

Should I stand like this all the time, even when walking? The principles carry over - soft knees, weight not too far forwards, hips doing the work - but you don’t need to overthink every step. Prioritise it when you’re standing still or moving slowly.

Do I need special shoes or insoles for this to work? No. Supportive, flat or low‑heeled shoes make it easier, but the main change comes from how you stack and support your own body, not from what’s under your feet.